Salary of Fashion Designers in India | How Much Does A Fashion Designer Earn? - IIFT Blog (2024)

Academy Award winner Edith Head once said

“You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it”

This is something I personally believe is true in its own way. From the perspective of Edith Head, Fashion Designers play a major role in fulfilling people’s dreams and helping them get what they want in life. Because Fashion Designers are the only people who can make or design such dresses.

Fashion Designers consider multiple factors while designing dresses. While the trend is one of the important factors to keep in mind during the designing process, there are various instances where a Fashion Designer has designed something and that something has become a trend. The most important factor that a Fashion Designer considers is the climate and they design dresses based on that. You might have heard of the terms like Winter collection, summer collections, etc. Fashion Designers are why we can be comfortable irrespective of whether.

I think you understand the point I am trying to make here. i.e., the Fashion Industry is arguably one of the most important industries that mankind needs.

But do Fashion Designers get paid enough for doing such a favor to the people of the World? Well, that is what we are here to find out.

Though the obvious answer is to the posed question is Yes, the actual question that we are going to answer in this post is How much does a Fashion Designer earn? What are the things that affect the salaries of a Fashion Designer and How can a Fashion Designer (I am assuming you in this case) skyrocket her/his career and get better pay?

No matter whether you are already a student of Fashion Designing or someone doing research with the intent of getting into a Fashion Designing Course, you are in the right place. Read on and get to know about the salary of a Fashion designer in India.

Before we get to the actual part where I disclose the salary, let us have a look at statistics and get you a lay of the land on the Fashion Industry and the Employment opportunities in Fashion Industry.

Economic & Employment Statistics in the Fashion Industry

Fashion is one of those industries that has been growing exponentially with every passing year (Except for 2020 where almost no one grew; Thank You Covid-19). There was a time when only rich and famous people used to take Fashion seriously. Times have changed and in today’s time everyone is taking their fashion game seriously; not just teens or adults, even parents of infant kids try to make their kids look cool and fashionable. Such is the effect of the Fashion Industry on our lives.

I hope that gives you an idea of how big the industry would be. No? Let me just put it out there then.

The fashion industry is the second largest employer in India providing a total of roughly 105 million jobs directly and indirectly and it’s growing. To put it in a context that is more than 10 Crores jobs we are talking about.

Here is something else to give you an idea of how big the Fashion industry is. The below stats from taken from a Government website and might slightly differ depending on when you are reading this.

The domestic textile and apparel industry contributes to a 2% share in India’s GDP. Foreign Direct Investment in the textiles and apparel industry has reached up to $3.45 bn during 2020. An article by India Today states that more than 300 international fashion brands will be opening their stores here in India in the next two years. The article was written in Jan 2020 which was Before the whole Corona. So, the timeline might have gotten a bit extended here but still 300 international brands is a huge deal.

Exports in the textiles and apparel industry are expected to reach $300 bn by 2024-25 resulting in a tripling of the Indian market share from 5% to 15%. The Textile & garments industry in India is expected to reach $223 bn by 2021 from $140.4 bn in 2018.

Too many numbers? Well, you need to get an idea about the industry before getting into it and I like showing off my research skills (Just Kidding). To put it simply, the Fashion Industry is one of the richest industries you can work in, and do not lose an opportunity that can help you with it.

There is good news for your skilled and talented fashion designers and would-be fashion designers as well. According to an economic times article, experts say that there is a shortage of qualified designers. There is a huge demand for qualified fashion designers and less supply. So, if you work hard and acquire the skills, you might just end up landing your dream job/company easily than you would have thought.

Now, let us get into the nitty-gritty of skills, which affects the salaries of fashion designers in India and other things later. First, let us see what is the average salary of a Fashion Designer in India for which you are here.

What is the Average Salary of Fashion Designer in India?

We will be looking at the data from two of the biggest Job stat websites so that you get a pretty good idea of how much you will be able to earn as a Fashion Designer. We will cover both freshers as well as experienced fashion designers’ salaries.

So, are you ready for this?

According to Payscale, the average median salary of a Fashion Designer in India is Rs. 3,90,000 per annum (approx. Rs. 32,000 per month) and the Rs. 1,53,000 per annum (approx. 12,000 per month) at the lower end of the spectrum.

That is not it, it becomes interesting; read on.

According to Glassdoor where the averages salaries are calculated based on user reviews mentions that the average median salary of a Fashion Designer is Rs. 5,59,000 per annum (approx. 46,000 per month) and Rs. 2,79,000 per annum (approx. 23,000 per month) at the lower end of the spectrum.

To avoid confusion, I have taken the average of both Glassdoor and Payscale, and here is how the salary of a Fashion Designer looks. The median average salary of a fashion designer would be approximately Rs. 4,74,500 per annum (approx. Rs. 39,000) and Rs. 2,16,000 per annum (approx. Rs. 18,000 per month) on the lower end of the spectrum.

There it is the answer you were looking for. Do keep in mind that there are several factors that affect the salaries which will be covered in later part. Depending on those and various other factors your salary might go below or beyond the salaries mentioned above.

It is a known fact that as the experience increases, the salary also increases given that you hone your skills and broaden your knowledge.

The things mentioned above are just for an entry-level fashion designer. This is where you begin, the journey and growth depend on how you perform.

Skills required to become a Fashion Designer

If you have been reading our previous blogs, you would know that I have already said a myriad of times that Fashion is a field of art and creativity. You can go and check out other blogs in case you doubt me.

But today I think it’s safe to change things up a little bit. The field of Fashion has evolved from being just art & creative field. The field itself has become highly competitive and has successfully integrated technology into the heart of it. Hence if you can manage to hone the technological aspects of Fashion along with the creative aspect, you might get an edge over everyone else.

Here is a list of skills that you need to have to become a successful fashion designer. Though I am just mentioning them in this post, I have explained them in an elaborate manner in the blog post What is Fashion Designing and How to Become a Successful Fashion Designer. Go, check that out if you are interested in knowing more about the skills you need to become a successful Fashion Designer.

• Communication Skill
• Creativity
• Drawing skills
• Computer Skills
• An Eye for Detail

Factors that affect the salary of a Fashion Designer:

I am sure you already know this, but still, for my personal satisfaction let me put it out there. Salary in every job varies depending on several variables that come into play as soon as you start searching for a Job. Here, in this section, I will cover the major ones.

The first of which is the skills which I will explain and then there are others where I believe just a mention of it would be enough.

Knowledge/Skills that affect the salary of a Fashion Designer:

The skills that you possess help gain an advantage over other candidates, but it also helps you get a better salary. As a Fashion Designer looking for a Fashion Designing job; you obviously will have the basic or even advanced knowledge of Fashion Designing, the Fashion Industry, and various other aspects of Fashion. But having the below skills would you help you earn better salaries. Here is how much of a difference it would make for each of the below skills or knowledge you possess.

Technical Garment knowledge: An individual who possesses Technical Garment knowledge can earn 15% more salary compared to that of an average Fashion Designer.

Product Development: If you know the process of Product Development and have sufficient skillsets for it, you can expect a salary that is 6% more than that of an Average Fashion Designer.

Illustrator or Photoshop: Well, this one is a no brainer. If you know Illustrator or Photoshop, you stand to get at least 5% & 2% – respectively – more salary.

Other factors that affect the salaries of a Fashion Designer:

Amount of experience you have in the Fashion Field preferably as a Fashion Designer.

Your Educational Background, the degree or diploma that you possess makes a huge difference in how much you will earn as an entry-level Fashion Designer.

The State and City you are located in. I will let you know the details of the difference in salaries in a later part of this post.

Apart from the skills mentioned in the above section, your salary will also depend on other skill sets you have, or the skill sets you have acquired over the period of your previous jobs.

The kind of demand there is for the role. Though, the data suggests that there is a good demand for Fashion Designers, there are various other factors that affect the demand as well. The best example being the whole Covid-19 scenario.

Talking of Covid-19, If you are curious about how Covid-19 has affected the Fashion Industry, check out this blog post on .

Different Job Roles and their respective salaries in the Fashion Industry

We have been talking & exploring Fashion Designers and their salaries a lot in this post. But in case you are someone who does not want to become a Fashion Designer but get into a different job role in the same field, this section is just for you. Let us have a look into some of the roles you can get into after completing your Fashion Designing course and the salaries you can expect out of it.

Before that, let me just say this; You can check out this blog on to know more about the below mentioned job roles in detail. Now that it’s out of the way, let us get started with the list.

• Fashion Illustrator: As a Fashion Illustrator you can draw a salary of somewhere between Rs. 1,49,000 to Rs. 3,00,000 Per Annum i.e., Rs. 12,000 to Rs.25,000 Per Month.
• Fashion Stylist: A Fashion Stylist will be able to earn a salary of somewhere between Rs. 2,23,000 to Rs. 4,30,000 i.e., Rs. Rs. 18,000 to 35,000 Per Month.
• Fashion Consultant: As a Fashion Consultant your remuneration would be somewhere between Rs. 2,36,000 to Rs. 3,53,000 Per Annum i.e., Rs 20,000 to Rs. 30,000.
• Fashion Coordinator: A Fashion Coordinator earns a salary that is somewhere between Rs. 2,20,000 to Rs. 3,50,000 Per Annum i.e., Rs.18,000 To Rs.30,000 per month.
• Fashion Merchandiser: As a Fashion Merchandiser you can earn a salary between Rs. 1,79,000 to Rs. 3,03,000 per year i.e., Rs. 15000 to Rs. 25,000.

Please note the above salaries mentioned are curated from a couple of job sites and there might be a difference in the salary you can get depending on your skills and other factors. It can go behind or beyond the above-mentioned salaries.

Responsibilities of a Fashion Designer:

We have been talking about salaries from the beginning, but what does a Fashion Designer do. What is her/his job role? Let us have a look at that and try to understand what a Fashion Designer is responsible for.

• Managing the design process from conception through to final styling.
• Conducting market research to identify new trends, fabrics, and techniques, and seeking design inspiration.
• Collaborating with team members to select seasonal themes, make edits to the line, and create new concepts.
• Ensuring the product agrees with the business strategy.
• Selecting fabrics and trims.
• Creating production sketches for development packages.
• Collaborating with a technical designer to ensure development packages are accurate.
• Reviewing product for style and fit during the presentation.
• Presenting story, mood, color boards, and samples to buyers.

These are just to mention a few general responsibilities. They tend to change based on companies’ requirements. Hence, you might see that the job description you receive from the company you are applying to might be a bit different than the one mentioned here.

Companies that pay the best salaries for Fashion Designers in India:

Big brands mean big budgets and big budgets mean better salaries. If you are lucky enough, you might end up drawing a handsome salary from a start-up as well. But we will have a look at some companies that pay handsomely to their Fashion Designers.

• Lifestyle
• Myntra
• Reliance Brands
• Future Group
• Raymond
• Adidas
• The Urban Factory Private Ltd.
• The E-Land Group
• Ritu Kumar

A Geographical look into the salaries of Fashion Designers

City Wise look into salaries of Fashion Designers

Delhi: If you are working in Delhi or New Delhi you can earn an average of 26.5% more than that of the national average.

Bangalore: If you are working in Bangalore as a Fashion Designer, you can earn 17.3% more than that of the national average.

Mumbai: A Fashion Designer in Mumbai earns 2.3% more than that of the national average.

Chennai: If you are working in Chennai, you will be earning an average of 20.9% less than that of the National average.

Jaipur: A Fashion Designer working in Jaipur earns 20.9% less than that of the National average.

Conclusion:

The fashion industry is one field that can never die. The demand for fashion clothes has been increasing exponentially and that means demand for more Fashion Designers. Even if you do not want to get a job in a Fashion Company, you can always start your own brand or even work as a freelancer on an hourly basis. The options in Fashion Industry are never-ending. All you need to do is take that first step and enroll in a Fashion Designing course. Well, that is where the Indian Institute of Fashion Designing comes in.

Has this article convinced you to be a Fashion Designer? Indian Institute of Technology can help you out with that. Not just becoming a Fashion Designer part but getting the job part as well. IIFT has had excellent results in terms of Placements and is considered one of the best Fashion Designing colleges in Bangalore. You can check out more details about the courses we offer below.

Fashion Designing Courses offered by IIFT:

• Masters in Fashion Management
• Diploma in Fashion Designing (Weekend Program)

Or you can just click on that yellow Enquire Now button on the top right corner and fill-up the form. We will help you out with the whole process.

PS: All the numbers mentioned in this post are based on the research. IIFT or the author do not bear responsibilities incase the numbers change or incase there is a difference.